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D0ggyStylz
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Figured the newsroom most appropriate for this....
MISS World hopeful Sabrina Houssami says she will defy Muslim teaching and wear a swimsuit in her bid to win the crown next month.
The university student, 20, yesterday rejected criticism by local Muslim leaders after they condemned beauty pageants as "a slur on Islam''.
Ms Houssami, a Muslim Australian from Georges Hall in Sydney's southwest, said while her religion was a "private matter'', her charity work for the pageant made her a ``positive role model for all young women''.
"I try to treat people well and I don't see why wearing a swimsuit in a contest which raises so much money for charity would be against the rules,'' she said yesterday.
Ms Houssami, who has raised $1.2 million for charity as part of her pageant bid said her record of public service was fitting as it was "one of the pillars of Islam''.
But Muslim leaders have criticised beauty pageant contestants for putting their "modesty'' on display.
Melbourne cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran criticised aspiring model Ayten Ahmet, 16, after she recently entered the Miss Teen Australia pageant as a role model for teenagers.
Sheik Mohammed caused outrage this year when he claimed the US Government was behind the September 11 attacks and declared Osama bin Laden an innocent man.
"The teachings of the Prophet and the Holy Koran do not encourage a girl to go out and uncover her modesty in public,'' he said of Ms Ahmet.
Ms Ahmet, a Muslim of Turkish heritage, said she had not entered the contest to make a religious statement.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils stopped short of defending her yesterday.
"There are parts of this story that Islam allows and parts it prohibits,'' AFIC president Rahim Ghauri said.
A Muslim group called for Miss Indonesia to face indecency charges when she wore a bikini last month.
The women's chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front wanted Indonesian authorities to prosecute Nadine Chandrawinata, claiming she "intentionally and openly engaged in indecency'' by taking part.
Meanwhile, Ms Houssami go to a lunch with Premier Morris Iemma tomorrow, before flying out for the pageant finals in Poland on Thursday.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20284823-5001021,00.html
MISS World hopeful Sabrina Houssami says she will defy Muslim teaching and wear a swimsuit in her bid to win the crown next month.
The university student, 20, yesterday rejected criticism by local Muslim leaders after they condemned beauty pageants as "a slur on Islam''.
Ms Houssami, a Muslim Australian from Georges Hall in Sydney's southwest, said while her religion was a "private matter'', her charity work for the pageant made her a ``positive role model for all young women''.
"I try to treat people well and I don't see why wearing a swimsuit in a contest which raises so much money for charity would be against the rules,'' she said yesterday.
Ms Houssami, who has raised $1.2 million for charity as part of her pageant bid said her record of public service was fitting as it was "one of the pillars of Islam''.
But Muslim leaders have criticised beauty pageant contestants for putting their "modesty'' on display.
Melbourne cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran criticised aspiring model Ayten Ahmet, 16, after she recently entered the Miss Teen Australia pageant as a role model for teenagers.
Sheik Mohammed caused outrage this year when he claimed the US Government was behind the September 11 attacks and declared Osama bin Laden an innocent man.
"The teachings of the Prophet and the Holy Koran do not encourage a girl to go out and uncover her modesty in public,'' he said of Ms Ahmet.
Ms Ahmet, a Muslim of Turkish heritage, said she had not entered the contest to make a religious statement.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils stopped short of defending her yesterday.
"There are parts of this story that Islam allows and parts it prohibits,'' AFIC president Rahim Ghauri said.
A Muslim group called for Miss Indonesia to face indecency charges when she wore a bikini last month.
The women's chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front wanted Indonesian authorities to prosecute Nadine Chandrawinata, claiming she "intentionally and openly engaged in indecency'' by taking part.
Meanwhile, Ms Houssami go to a lunch with Premier Morris Iemma tomorrow, before flying out for the pageant finals in Poland on Thursday.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20284823-5001021,00.html
